Representing the Red, White, and Blue

Last week, I had the chance to cover the USA and Canada in a pre-Olympic match-up at the Xcel Energy Center for USA Today Sports Images. Shooting a couple rivals is always fun but having the chance to cover a good friend, now Olympian, Anne Schleper, for the first time in the USA sweater was a treat in itself.

Here are a few of my favorites…

Girls from St. Cloud Youth Hockey were out in full force to cheer on the hometown girl.

Big thanks for skating right next to the USA Hockey logo, I appreciate it, Anne!

The photo above was featured the following day in our hometown St. Cloud Times.

All smiles.

The Road To Sochi…with a pit stop in the penalty box.

Earlier this year, Anne and I worked on a t-shirt design to sell around the area that would help fund the necessary travel expenses to get her family to Sochi for the Olympics. The shirts have been a hit (500+ already sold) and rumors have it that more will be made available very soon.

The shirts were easy to spot around the X last Saturday.

After shooting the first two periods from ice-level, I shot from the concourse level during the third period and overtime. I never expected to get a shot like this, but she randomly turned around with a soft smile during the shootout while talking to a teammate and just happened to have the Olympic rings right above her head. Talk about luck.

Victory.

Thanks for taking the time to check out the blog and make sure to tune into the Olympics next month and check out №15 represent not only the United States of America, but the state of Minnesota, St. Cloud and Cathedral High School. We couldn’t be more proud.

Congrats, Anne!

‘Welp, see ya later.’